Gerakan: Phang bought old shophouse for RM910psf

Gerakan urges state to declassify Exco minutes in row over sale of Taman Manggis state land for hotel project.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Gerakan has pointed out that businesswoman Phang Li Koon had bought an old shophouse at a value of RM910 per square foot near Taman Manggis, the site of a controversial sale of state land for a hospital-cum-hotel project.

Penang Gerakan secretary Oh Tong Keong questioned the state government’s sale of the land in 2010 for RM11.5 million, or RM232 per sq ft, according to a report in the Sun newspaper.

Speaking at a press conference, he urged the state government to declassify and release documents about the Taman Manggis sale for a hospital-cum-hotel project.

He brought up the purchase of an old shophouse in Lorong Selamat, next to Taman Manggis, by Phang and contrasted the value of the two sales.

Oh questioned why the prices were so varied despite the area being near each other.

Senior executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said last week that the Valuation and Property Services Department had valued the Taman Manggis land at RM8.5 million in 2009, and that the winning bid was higher than the valuation.

Phang has become embroiled in the controversy because of her sale of a double-storey bungalow to Lim Guan Eng, the DAP leader and Penang chief minister, has sparked a controversy when critics questioned the RM2.8 million purchase price as being below market value.

Questions were also raised about her business partner, who holds a controlling stake in the company that bought the Taman Manggis land.

Oh said the state government should declassify and release the documents relating to the Taman Manggis sale.

He said Gerakan does not plan to ask former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon, who has retired, to explain the Taman Manggis issues.

“There is no need to be afraid if one is innocent and no need for a former chief minister to explain the issue,” he said, according to the Sun.

Last week, state executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo declassified and released two memorandums relating to the sale.